According to a recent study by Avanade, SaaS (software as a service) has become a more and more popular model for cloud computing adoption, with 68% of U.S. respondents reporting adoption of SaaS at some level, and 62% of global respondents reporting plans to move toward SaaS in this upcoming year.

SaaS and cloud computing are bringing an evolutionary shift in application and delivery usage. The more people expect processing power, storage, high-speed bandwidth, security and reliability on their on-premise solutions, the more the model matures.

This being said, moving to the cloud isn’t for everyone, nor is it ideal for every aspect of business. It becomes an either or argument, but not a necessity. Having the flexibility to utilize solutions either on-premise or through the cloud, affords companies the choices they need to succeed. If a company finds a solution that can help them realize their business objectives, overcome their challenges and capitalize on market opportunities, then it should be able to choose which means by which this solution is delivered.

Anyone who uses an online photo-sharing site, a Web-based document management service or a social networking application is computing in the cloud. So if indeed it is really so ubiquitous, why isn’t every business migrating its data to the cloud?

The answer is because there is always a risk. and T-Mobile’s notorious Sidekick data debacle is well-known; Microsoft’s servers failed on October 2, affecting some of the Sidekick handset users who could no longer access the mobile Internet or email. Then the Sidekick server and its backup server become corrupted in the process of restoring customer access. The users affected by the initial outage had all of their data erased.

Traditionalists favor on-premise software deployment because it’s familiar. Having solutions on-premise seems like a more secure way of doing business, because all data is kept within a company’s physical walls.

However, SaaS offers some unique benefits as well. It requires no infrastructure investment and eliminates the need for installations and maintenance.